Immigration Attorney
Services & Fees

Sunday, October 08, 2000 - Bill Doubles H-1B Visa Fees

By BART JANSEN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal fees that companies pay for visas to recruit skilled foreign workers would double to provide more training and education for American workers under a bill the House approved Friday.

The $500 visa fee would rise to $1,000 if the Senate agrees as expected next week. The high-tech industry supported the increase in exchange for a dramatic expansion in the H-1B visa program that they had made a top legislative priority.

``If we are going to have a work force that is going to be globally competitive, we must have them trained and educated here in the United States,'' said Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif.

Both the Senate and House voted Tuesday to allow almost 600,000 additional skilled foreign workers in the country over the next three years, about 350,000 more than would have otherwise been granted.

Negotiations for the visa increase included broad agreement on higher fees. But the Constitution requires that the House introduce revenue bills, so the Senate bill couldn't include the increased fees. They had to be approved as a separate House bill.

The higher fees will generate close to $200 million per year. The money from all the fees will be divided, with 55 percent distributed by the Labor Department for worker training, 22 percent by the National Science Foundation in scholarships for low-income college students and 15 percent by the NSF in grants to public schools. The final 8 percent will be split in half, 4 percent to the Immigration and Naturalization Service to improve processing visas and 4 percent to Labor to fight fraud.

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The bill is H.R. 5362.